蜜芽传媒

A couple who kept an old naval shell as a garden ornament said "it was like the passing of an old friend" when it was detonated by a bomb disposal team.

It had been outside the home of Sian and Jeffrey Edwards in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, and is thought to date from the late 19th Century.

The couple had thought it was a "dummy" with no charge.

But on Wednesday evening, a police officer knocked on the door to tell the couple he had spotted it and would need to alert the UK's Ministry of Defence.

An hour later, he told the shocked couple the bomb squad would arrive the next day.

Jeffrey has been telling the story to Newshour's Tim Franks.

Photo shows: The 19th Century bomb had been in the front garden for over 100 years. Credit: Jeffrey Edwards